Lady Red Devils blank LamarATKINS — Alex Webb struckout 11, gave up one hit and one walk during the Atkins Lady Red Devils’ 6-0 win over the Lamar Lady Warriors on Thursday. Atkins had no defensive errors during the victory. Offensively, Kaylen Martin was 3-for-4 with two runs and two steals. Payton Harvill was 1-for-3 with two runs, a walk and a steal. Webb was 2-for-4 with a double. Sydney Webb was 1-for-3 with a double and one run. Bailey Thomas was 2-for-3 with two-...

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Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

River Valley Wrestling places third at stateThe River Valley Boys and Girls Club had 19 wrestlers compete in the Arkansas Youth State Wrestling Championship on Saturday in Rogers. The River Valley Wrestling team finished third out of 15 teams in the 20-and-under club entry category. The team had four individual state champions. Zach Snook won the Division-5, 165-pound title. Cole Hathcote won the Division-4, 130-pound title. Ethyn Gibson won the Division-3, 85-pound title and Trenton Re...

Lady Whirlwinds win Hornet RelaysBRYANT — The Russellville Junior High School Lady Whirlwinds won the Bryant Junior High Hornet Relays on Tuesday with a team score of 101.5, while the Whirlwinds placed third with several top finishers across the board. For the Lady Whirlwinds, Tamara Rhode won the 100-Meter Dash (13.54), the 200-Meter Dash (28.26) and ran the 400-Meter Dash in 1:04.44. Grace Sykes placed fourth in the 1600-Meter Run (6:22.84), and Selena Vazquez placed sixth ...

Wonder Boys to host Savage StormBack on track with 10 victories in their last 11 games, the Arkansas Tech baseball team will look to keep a modest three-game league winning streak going when it hosts Southeastern Oklahoma in a three-game Great American Conference series Friday and Saturday at Tech Field. The Wonder Boys (14-10, 3-5 GAC) have bounced back from a tough start to post a stellar mark in the month of March, ripping off six wins in a row starting with the series fi...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

The bear huntThis past October, I went deer hunting with a crossbow -- nothing unusual about this because that’s what I do. This day was, and will always be, one of my fondest memories of a hunting trip. I had un-cocked my crossbow and loaded up in the truck. I was hunting with my brother in law, J.J. Johnson, as we had decided to end our hunt early this particular day to go fishing on an abandoned farm pond that we recently discovered. I locked the gate o...

Chasing turkeys in the springJONESBORO — I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never been a big turkey hunter. Deer are more my thing. I’ve been outsmarted by more whitetails than I care to admit and in some perverse way, that’s added to my whitetail addiction. With deer season ending last month, that leaves turkey hunting as the next best thing. Die-hard turkey hunters, and I have several friends who are, will tell you there’s nothing that can beat the thrills of chasing ...

Pickleball ambassadors make an impactWhile Debra and Isaac Patty may be leaving Russellville soon, their impact will be felt for years to come. The Pattys are the ambassadors of the River Valley Pickleball Association and have held a number of tournaments in the area in recent years at Valley Fest, Saint Mary’s Wellness Fitness Center and Arkansas Tech University. With Debra set to retire at the end of the month, the couple has plans to move to Florida for retirement. The Pattys ...

Cyclones' season ends in semifinalsSILOAM SPRINGS — Cyclones head coach Codey Mann hugged his starting seniors near the end of their 48-27 loss to the Jonesboro Golden Hurricane in the semifinals of the Class 6A State Tournament. With time running out, Mann benched his starters to let the remaining graduating seniors get just a few more minutes of high school basketball under their belts. Jonesboro (26-5) won the Class 6A State Title in 2014 and will face Pine Bluff on Friday f...

Pirates to host baseball classic WednesdayDOVER — Pirates head coach Jason McGhee will do just about anything to get a few baseball games in. With two separate rounds of winter weather devouring almost a week-and-a-half of the season, Wednesday's River Valley and Northwest Arkansas Classic at J.P. Lovelady Park will be a perfect opportunity to get a few games in. “We’re just at a point where we want to play, and we'll just play three games if we have to,” McGhee said. Dover is one of ...

Lady Cyclones soccer wins home openerThe Russellville Lady Cyclones soccer team won their home opener 1-0 over the Little Rock Central Lady Tigers on Monday at Cyclone Stadium. Ariston Gray scored Russellville’s (2-1) goal off a corner kick from Maria Marasco. Lady Cyclones head coach Kelly Young said the rainy conditions were difficult to play through, but was pleased to see her team was up to the challenge. “It changes the game,” she said. “This game was evenly matched, and it ...

Apaches defeat Atkins 15-11ATKINS — The Pottsville Apaches defeated the Atkins Red Devils 15-11 in a slugfest held on Saturday. Pottsville took a 4-2 lead in the top of the third inning, but the Red Devils answered with five runs. Each team added two runs in the fourth, but the Apaches added five in the fifth to take an 11-9 lead. Atkins (0-1) added one in the sixth, but Pottsville scored four in the seventh and held the Red Devils to one to secure the victory. The Apac...

Cyclones advance to 6A semifinalsSILOAM SPRINGS — The Russellville Cyclones secured their place in the semifinals of the Class 6A State Tournament with a commanding 85-61 win over the El Dorado Wildcats on Monday. The Cyclones (14-13) went on a 21-0 scoring spree in the third quarter and never looked back. Russellville went to the locker room with a 44-38 lead at halftime. El Dorado pulled within 45-41 in the third quarter, but that was it for scoring until early in the fourt...

Catfish: Popular to catch, even better to eatWhen you are from the south it is just a given that you have been born and raised on catfish. Not only are they a staple at the dinner table and famous in country songs, but they are also very fun to catch. A few years ago, on a trip to ICAST with my good friends from Wilkins Brothers Outdoors, we ate in a restaurant that had Catfish from Eudora, Ark. on the menu. Although it seemed quite comical to us, my step-brother who lives in Bend, Ore. ...

Close encounters with unlikely intrudersI watched a raccoon emerge from a hollow tree and cautiously make his way to the ground. It was good that he appeared, because I hadn’t seen a single animal all morning. it was approaching 10:30 a.m. A six- and eight-pointer had walked past this very tree just two mornings earlier, so I was expecting to see them again, or perhaps their great uncle. The leaves were dry and the raccoon made no attempt to conceal its position. I watched as he mad...

Wonder Boys down ECU to win Conference title, advance to NCAA TournamentBARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Mike Balogun scored a career-high 33 points, Jay Murphy turned in a 16-point effort, Clarence Willard scored 15 points with five boards while D.J. Jethroe added a 11-point, eight-rebound performance as the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys basketball team (18-13) captured the Great American Conference championship with an 80-77 win over East Central (21-10) on Sunday at the Bruin Fieldhouse. By virtue of their conference title, t...

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Golden Suns fall in GAC title gameBARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Fatima Adams led all scorers with 17 points, but the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns (23-6) were unable to come away with a win in the Great American Conference championship game against Harding (23-6), falling 68-50 to the Lady Bisons on Sunday at the Bruin Fieldhouse. Momentum seemed to be with the Golden Suns early on, as Arkansas Tech opened the game on an 8-2 run and eventually led by nine (13-4) with 13:30 to play in the ...

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Cyclones advance, Lady Cyclones fallSILOAM SPRINGS – The Russellville Cyclones defeated the Benton Panthers 58-46 in the first round of the Class 6A state tournament on Saturday. The Cyclones took an 18-17 lead over the Panthers at halftime and extended their lead in the third quarter when K.J. Patrick fired in the first two 3-pointers by either team with 7:08 left in the third quarter. Andy Campbell's steal and layup put Russellville up 25-20. Kentrell Scott and Campbell each s...

Wonder Boys sweep AugustanaTaking advantage of its first real seasonable temperatures in the friendly confines of Tech Field, the Arkansas Tech baseball team powered its way to a pair of wins over Central Region opponent Augustana, blasting four home runs and seven extra-base hits to pick up victories of 8-6 and 9-1. The Wonder Boys (8-9) leaned on the long ball early in both games, with Patrick Castleberry providing the bulk of the pop, going 4-for-6 with three home ru...

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Golden Suns softball wins opener against SoutheasternDURANT, Okla. – The offense once again refused to go away for the Arkansas Tech softball team, as the Golden Suns rallied from a 10-run deficit after two innings to claim a 16-13 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma Saturday afternoon to remain unbeaten in Great American Conference play . The Golden Suns (9-2, 3-0 GAC) netted two runs in the top of the third to cut off the Savage Storm (8-8, 4-1 GAC) rally, climbed right back into it with eight ...

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ATU Athletic CommunicationsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley